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> The worksheet puts a rough estimate of the total receipts which the worksheet puts at $1,323.10/doe/year. So my rough estimate was only about $75 off? Let's

by floren 4y ago

> The worksheet puts a rough estimate of the total receipts which the worksheet puts at $1,323.10/doe/year. So my rough estimate was only about $75 off? Let's look at that $36/day figure, because I don't trust those blogs. The PSU page puts the absolute top production for the Saanen at 4870lb per lactation period. Add in the gestation and you're getting 4870 lb per 433 days, or 11.25 lb per day -- 1.4 gallons per day average. At $12 per gallon, that's $16.8/day per doe, or $6132 per doe per annum, for a grand total of $73k gross receipts per annum on your herd of a dozen. That's if you can get the top of the market price for the milk, and if all of your goats produce at the absolute top capacity and you get them bred the day after they dry up (but in this case you should probably be breeding your wondergoats for sale, or making money selling semen from the wonderbucks).

shagie 4y ago
It appears so. I am suitably impressed that your envelope has better math than mine did. One of the parts that the worksheet brings in is all the expenses - both fixed and variable. This is where there is a "yes, you could have a dairy goat heard and make money, but in order to make more money, you need to better vertical integration of the operation" which gets into the growing your own fodder which gets into other economies of scale and ends up looking more like a regular dairy operation growing oats whatever. The "have a heard of goats, milk them twice a day and live off of that with lots of free time between the milking" isn't something that is easy to do.
- floren 4y ago
  Yeah, I'd previously thought about dairy goats and decided there's just too much damn milking. Given some pasture land, I'd choose to raise sheep for meat. It's not a huge amount of income, but it's a lot less work than dairying. Plus you're keeping your own family supplied with lamb--and pork, it's easy to keep a couple hogs around--which is a big savings at the grocery store.

by floren 4y ago

shagie 4y ago

It appears so. I am suitably impressed that your envelope has better math than mine did. One of the parts that the worksheet brings in is all the expenses - both fixed and variable. This is where there is a "yes, you could have a dairy goat heard and make money, but in order to make more money, you need to better vertical integration of the operation" which gets into the growing your own fodder which gets into other economies of scale and ends up looking more like a regular dairy operation growing oats whatever. The "have a heard of goats, milk them twice a day and live off of that with lots of free time between the milking" isn't something that is easy to do.

floren 4y ago
Yeah, I'd previously thought about dairy goats and decided there's just too much damn milking. Given some pasture land, I'd choose to raise sheep for meat. It's not a huge amount of income, but it's a lot less work than dairying. Plus you're keeping your own family supplied with lamb--and pork, it's easy to keep a couple hogs around--which is a big savings at the grocery store.